Good point, Pam - the admin one, I mean.
Yes, a very controversial topic and one where feelings run
extremely high.
As some will know, I am completely hostile to the death penalty. I suppose my opposition can be summed up in two reasons, the first most important.
One: two wrongs do not make a 'right'. If killing is wrong, then it's wrong for everyone, and that includes the State.
Two: miscarriages of justice do happen. Where someone's been in prison for years and finally manages to prove their innocence, they can be released. It's not perfect - that person has still suffered. But it's possible to make some amends. If the person was executed, there's nothing anyone can do to put it right.
There are lots of other things I could talk about - debates on statistics which, as we all know, are easy to manipulate and rarely prove anything in either direction; the length of time and cost of keeping someone on Death Row for twenty years or more; whether it's a good thing to encourage victims of crime - who fully deserve support and sympathy - to think of justice in terms of vengeance. But essentially my opposition is summed up in terms of the two points made above.
And I hasten to add that these are my
opinions and not a criticism of anyone who disagrees.
Wendy
